When Gizmo was about 2 or 3 we had just moved into a new neighborhood and he wasn't use to going outside by himself. He started going out of his yard and when he came home he started bringing stuff home, like a lip pencil, socks, a tee shirt (we had to help him get it through a hole in the fence).
One day he brought home a glove, the next day he brought home the matching glove. We had a granddaughter visiting us and he would get her socks and take them outside through the cat door and put them under the deck.
Now Gizmo is 13 and he just carries his pieces of elastic ( he has about 5 pieces) upstairs into the bedroom while he is making a very loud noise with the elastic in his mouth.
I used to throw the elastic down stairs but then started feeling sorry for him that he had to carry them back up. He takes them down some times and brings them back up. This usually happens just at night when you are sleeping but the noise he makes wakes you up. He likes the black elastic the best!
Mar 08, 2010 Rating
cat dragging shoes by: Anonymous
My cat is 13 and in the past year started pulling my heavy leather shoes out of a hall basket and drag them into the living room. She makes a howling sound too but usually does it at night or when no one is looking. Often its leather shoes so I wonder if this has something to do with it?
Feb 14, 2010 Rating
Cat dragging stuff - mine too! by: Lorraine
When my cat Pike has a good meal, she thanks me by dragging socks in my direction. She cries a weird cry as she does it. It is her way of thanking me for her dinner. She is "treating" me!
Jan 27, 2010 Rating
My cats crazy sock thing by: sparky
I have two lovely cats , Missy is six and has recently started bringing me socks whilst crying. I think its a hunting substitute, which i really dont mind because i always have trouble finding my socks in the morning.
The best bit of all is she only brings me clean socks never dirty! its a little quirk she has which is really helpful to me!
Nov 05, 2009 Rating
Baby baby by: Anonymous
My cat Mena has had a cat beanie baby since she was a kitten. She is now almost 13 years old. She loves to bring us her toy howling and carrying it in her mouth.
Sometimes it will go weeks and she doesn't mess with it but most days she'll move it at least once.
Once she senses that we see her she will immediately put it down and want to be praised. We tell her what a good girl she is for bringing us the "baby baby."
That makes her happy and then goes about her business. We have many other small stuffed animals but she only loves the baby baby. A few times I have found it in the food or water bowl. Once she put it in the litter.
I guess that was a mistake because she wouldn't mess it again until after I put it in the wash. LOL!
Oct 25, 2009 Rating
gonzo and his sock blanky by: Anonymous
my 9 week old kitten Gonzo does this also. He will get my sock, usually a fuzzy one I have and run with it into a hidden place. if i get near him he will growl and hiss and try to scratch. Weird cat behavior?
Oct 17, 2009 Rating
My Cat by: Anonymous
My cat does this as well, and she has been spayed, never had kittens, and is elderly for a cat (she is 16).
She has just recently started doing this with my socks and footies, she carries them around, mouths them and meows, or wails, as though she is calling kittens.
The really odd thing is she will not do this with anyone else' socks but mine! If my husbands are on the floor, she will ignore them.
Aug 13, 2009 Rating
Char-Char by: udontned2no...
We have a cat, Charlie, and he had a snowman, and still has it. He carries it around the house, caterwals, and, well, sort of mates with it every night,
And when did you get the cat fixed? Charlie was, (we think) mating when we got him fixed, so he is looking for his significant other feline. But he has to settle for the snowman. LOL!
May 23, 2009 Rating
GIZMO AND SOCK by: Rhonda
My Cat Gizmo does the same thing, from What I read and researched it has to do with hording, he is the only one out of the 3 brothers that do this, 2 of them I managed to catch when they were like 6 wks old.
The feral mom brought them to the carport, Gizmo on the other hand didn't catch till he was about 5 months old, and only caught him cause he was so sick he was very close to dying, after about 300 or so bucks he is alive and well.
But back to the socks, what I read is when they are kittens in the wild the momma cat brings mice, birds or any prey she had hunted and killed back to the kitten to provide them with food once they are able to eat on their own, and sometimes it just a natural instinct the cats pick up on and some act it out.
Instead of actual prey they will use something else as in gizmos case he chooses socks and leaves them all over the kitchen...just as when we were kids we played house or grocery store in play. It not nothing to be concerned about.
It is just something natural and instinctive that has turned into cat play since they have no need to hunt, Hope this helps not an expert but that is what i have researched and it did make since. :)
May 12, 2009 Rating
Jack cat does too! by: Nancy in Dallas
I have a male cat who is indoor/outdoor and has been neutered. So much for the indoor hunting theories and mother/kitten theories.
Besides the yowling being disturbing, the underwear and tshirts from the laundry basket all over the floor. When arriving with guests it is very embarrassing, he is also putting holes via teeth marks in all of my clothes that he drags.
Jack is also prone to chewing the tip of his tail which creates a crazy pattern in his fur!
Mar 16, 2009 Rating
Spay Her by: Anonymous
Domestic cats should be spayed. From a behavioral point of view, it stops spraying and other type of obsessive behavior very often.
From a compassionate standpoint, we have hundreds of thousands of kittens being put down for lack of a home. Adopt if you want more, you can have all the cat love in the world and save lives at the same time!
Feb 24, 2009 Rating
Wow cats and socks by: Tiffany
I never realized how common it is for cats to use socks, etc. as playthings or substitute kittens or whatever. It's good to know that, even if we don't exactly know why.
Thanks For Sharing Everyone! Tiffany / Arkansas
Feb 24, 2009 Rating
sock stealer by: Anonymous
I, too, have a sock lifting cat. I just adopted him from a family who was going to take him to the pound. He's about 7 years old, and each time I take dirty laundry to the basement, he brings up all the socks - again, with the muffled, tortured MEOW! I've spoken to his former family, and they said he's always done this. He does kick at the sock with his hind legs and lays on it a few minutes, then goes about his business. I am constantly picking up socks.. but I'm happy he has a hobby!
Feb 14, 2009 Rating
Yowling cats by: Martina
I used to worry about my one cat (I have three) as I would hear yowling and thought she might be in distress, but every time I went to check she was carrying her foam ball in her mouth and yowling at the same time (I ignore it now). I think it's just part of play for her, but it does sound distressing for sure!
Jan 26, 2009 Rating
dragging mine too! by: daria
my 9 year old selkirk rex has been doing this all her life. I'd say at least 2 or 3 times a week I'll hear her in another room letting out this pathetic muffled wail, and I'll know she either have a toy, a sock, or one of my hair ties in her mouth when she comes in the room.
Dec 07, 2008 Rating
cats dragging stuff by: Anonymous
My cat does a similar thing- in this case, I do not think it has to do with the hunting instinct- I think that is a separate issue. With my cat (and the original post) it sounds like a maternal/kitten thing. My cat Lucy has had a fuzzy ball toy since she was a kitten, she is now about 16 years old. She has never played with any other toy and she is not a hunter. All her life she has (maybe 2-3 times a day and at night)began meowing LOUDLY (as if in heat)and carrying the ball around. It has often reminded me of a cat carrying a kitten. Sometimes she will bring it to us, but very rarely. More often she moves it from room to room, sometimes puts it in my shoes, or on the couch, or in her sleeping basket. She does it by herself and stops if anyone comes in the room. It is very strange. I have often thought that it might have had something to do with her mother/kitten hood or perhaps that she had a heat before she was spayed? I don't know. Hopefully your cat's behavior will taper off and become more manageable.
Dec 07, 2008 Rating
Hunter Cat by: Patti
I have an older indoor male cat who will satisfy his hunting needs by "conquering" wide terry hair elastics. He meows loudly while carrying an elastic in his mouth and plays with it as if it was a mouse.
Sometimes late at night (2 a.m.?) he will meow while coming up the hallway, then jump on the bed with his victim. He tosses it in the air and pounces on it many times, and if it lands on the floor, he fetches it back up onto the bed again.
He truly seems to be into the hunt/play/kill routine, and definitely wants praise for saving me from the dreaded hair elastic.
I would think that your cat is doing the same, but on a bigger scale...especially for her kittens.
Enjoy it! :)
Dec 06, 2008 Rating
Proud Praise by: Tiffany
I had a cat that used to do the same. She'd help herself to the spare sock basket, and then she'd drop it at my feet & wait for praise.
I'm pretty sure that's how inside kitties sort of satisfy their hunting instinct. She'd let out her cry, also, while "killing" the sock. Then, she absolutely would NOT leave me alone until I praised her. It went something like this, "Oh, yes. You're such a good girl for killing that sock! Good girl." After that, she'd go about her business.
I always thought it was kind of funny, But, whatever the feeling, I don't think it's anything to worry about.
Dec 06, 2008 Rating
missing babies? by: Anonymous
Hi there,do you still have her kittens?If not she might be looking for them.
